Samara Weaving is back in the sequel to 2019’s Ready Or Not. Here’s our review of Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come… There’s a bit in Drew Goddard’s superb Cabin In The Woods where, early in the movie, it’s implied that the choice a character makes will in turn determine the horror they’re going ... Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come review | Let the games begin (again)
Samara Weaving is back in the sequel to 2019’s Ready Or Not. Here’s our review of Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come…
There’s a bit in Drew Goddard’s superb Cabin In The Woods where, early in the movie, it’s implied that the choice a character makes will in turn determine the horror they’re going to face for the rest of the film. You may remember a similar moment in 2019’s Ready Or Not, where it’s implied there that there’s a whole bunch of, er, ‘family games’ that newlywed Grace – Samara Weaving – can play with her in-laws, even before she’s had a chance to change out of her wedding dress. The sense that there are various ways it could have gone, had a character made a very slightly different choice.
The subsequent hour and a half of hide and seek that ensued in Ready Or Not remains a real treat, and a breakthrough calling card for directorial duo Radio Silence – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (leading to the Scream franchise and last year’s Abigail) – and for Weaving as well. A welcome hit too, it didn’t scream ‘sequel’, but the idea of playing a different game from the Le Domas family shelf is not unwelcome. Metaphorically, there were after all a lot of games left on the shelf.
Thus, we get Ready Or Not: Here I Come, which – from the pen of also-returning writers Guy Busick and R Christopher Murphy – appears to veer towards the ‘don’t do that’ list of movie sequels. Everything needs to be bigger, the world needs to be broader, and the hits need to be replayed. The stuff that might be fun to subvert, yet instead they play it fairly straight down the line. But they very much know what they’re doing.
Picking up seconds after the first film finished, it’s very much about pleasing fans of the original movie. A good 20 minutes or so is spent rushing Grace to hospital, bringing her sister Faith – played by Kathryn Newton – into the story, while simultaneously giving us David Cronenberg in a chair, stopping armed conflicts. It’s a boggy start, but not without highlights. Not least, well, David Cronenberg.
The other key addition, aside from Faith, is Elijah Wood’s lawyer, patiently observing matters while referring to a large book. I’m wary if I divulge too much plot I don’t just spoil this film, but also the one before. I’ll go with suggesting that Wood outlines the rules and regulations facing the characters, before battle commences.
What Ready Or Not: Here I Come boils down to is pretty much the same format of the original movie. It’s another game of hide and seek, scandalously discarding the possibility of a horror film based around a family game of Scrabble, this time with contenders brought together from the family tree around the world.
Bonus points for Sarah Michelle Gellar’s slimy Ursula and Shawn Hatosy’s Titus, with the slightly expanded ensemble and additional backstory bulking the film out to a slightly less tight 108 minutes this time. But with a joyous collection of characters to move around the metaphorical board.
At the top of the casting list, it’s slightly diluted. A lot of the joy of Ready Or Not was the idea of Grace battling solo as the family closed in around here. Here, she gets a sidekick and an estranged sister story, and as fun as Kathryn Newton is, it does lessen the time we get to spend with Weaving. It feels like two steps forward, two steps back.
Thankfully, after a prolonged first act, Ready Or Not: Here I Come happily hits its stride, the Radio Silence duo gleefully turning the dial with a couple of full-on battles, and an excellent use of an electrical appliance. Never less than bloody good fun, there’s a moment where it feels like the movie is finally unleashed, and determined to give the audience what it wants. Compared to, say, Scream 7, it’s The Godfather Part II. Compared to, say, Sam Raimi’s Send Help, it feels a tiny bit lacking in verve.
Narratively, I’m not convinced that Ready Or Not: Here I Go ever really overcomes the Die Hard 2 problem, of how can the same shit happen to the same person twice. And that’s accepting that the conundrum is addressed directly in the screenplay twice. But it’s very good at what it sets out to do. A replaying of the game from the first film, just with different characters and a few more buckets of blood.
But then this is a horror sequel, from people very good at making horror films. Coupled with a screenplay that’s not shy of wit, and with a determined ensemble clearly enjoying getting to make a film like this on a cinematic canvas, it’s an entertaining follow-on. And, without doubt, a movie fully, fully committed to what it’s doing. Not unlike Cabin In The Woods…
